


Reasons

by ImaginationisKey996



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Seokwon is just mentioned, and the showhyuk is just a side pairing, kind of, kinda like Day6??, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 02:35:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9798770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaginationisKey996/pseuds/ImaginationisKey996
Summary: From the moment Kihyun meets Hoseok, he knows that they're not compatible.  Not as friends and certainly not as anything more.  Hoseok is too soft and pliable.  He's irresponsible when he needs to be serious and he blames everything on himself.  He never stands his ground and his lips are just so fuckingpink, like what the fuck.  Every time Kihyun looks at him, he can feel this niggling worm ofsomethingwriggling away, deep in the pit of his stomach.  Now if only he could figure out what on earth it is that he's feeling.





	1. Chapter 1

Kihyun paces back and forth outside of the dean’s office. The head of the school had told him to wait there for a student named Minhyuk to come and show him around the university campus but whoever Minhyuk is, is running late. He’s lucky though. It’s still winter but the bitter cold has faded into something a little more bearable. The sun is shining too, even if it’s warmth is a little week at the moment. He allows himself to pause by the window and take in the lush greens of the campus as grassy patches begin to show themselves through the rapidly melting snow.

“Hey! You must be the transfer student! I’m so sorry I’m late.” shouts a slender boy with black hair, presumably Minhyuk, as he jogs down the hallway to Kihyun’s side. He sticks out his hand for Kihyun to shake and then beams at him. They are roughly the same height with Minhyuk being just a little bit on the taller side.

“I’m Minhyuk and I’m supposed to be showing you around the campus today and helping you get adjusted. Second semester classes start tomorrow so hopefully we can get you familiar enough with the campus so you don’t get lost. You can always find me and ask for help if you need.” Minhyuk rambles as he begins to walk down the hallway the way he came, just expecting Kihyun to follow, which he does.

“Actually, I’ll give you my number and then you can just text me if you need help finding anything tomorrow. The campus isn’t huge so I don’t think you’ll have a problem. Though Hoseok got lost on his first day here, so whose to say really.” Minhyuk continues. Just as they reach the front door of the building, he stops abruptly and turns to Kihyun with a grimace.

“Sorry, what’s your name? I tend to get a little carried away sometimes.” 

“Kihyun.” He answers simply.

“Well, okay Kihyun.” He chirps, with that camp councillor smile plastered on his face. “Let’s get you familiar with this campus!” 

 

The campus is absolutely beautiful just as Kihyun had expected. He had been anticipating coming to this school ever since he was in middle school and he had decided that he wanted to be a singer. Of course it had taken him a little longer than he would have liked to save up the funds to come a place that was so prestigious but now that he was here, he was glad that he had waited. 

After he had graduated high school he had decided to take a couple years off, live with his parents and work full time instead of heading to some community college right of the bat. He had ended up upgrading a few of his high school credits at the local college and then transferring those credits when he had saved the money to go to the school of his dreams. 

Minhyuk guides him quickly through most of the buildings that he won’t be spending much time in considering he’s a vocal major. He saves the place where Kihyun will have most of his classes for last. 

“This is the arts courtyard.” Minhyuk says proudly, spreading out his arms in presentation like some kind of hilarious Vanna White imitation. “This is where most of your required classes will be. Also it’s where all the vocal practise rooms are. Basically you’ll be spending a lot of time here.”

Kihyun doesn’t think that he’s really going to mind spending time here. It’s a circular cobblestone courtyard surrounded by four buildings evenly spaced around the circle. There are spindly little trees spaced out in the grass around the cobbles that are sprouting little emerald green leaf buds and there are neat little park benches scattered around the grounds where a person could sit and watch the birds while perhaps enjoying a cup of coffee. 

“This is the Fine Arts building. This is where most of your required lectures will be. There’s also a cafe inside. They server great coffee, if you’re into that. Also this is where all the high tech computers are and printers so you can print your digital photos. Also the dark room is there if you’re into film.” Minhyuk says, pointing to the first building that’s laden with white brick.

“Next is the Visual Arts building, where I spend most of my time. Theres a drawing studio, a painting studio and three galleries you can rent out for art shows if you want. There’s also the sculpture yard and the offices for most of the arts faculty. You can pretty much always find me in there if you need anything.” Minhyuk turns to the next building, red brick and the second largest in the courtyard.

“That is the theatre building. They put on a musical and a play every semester and auditions are starting pretty soon if that’s something you’re interested in.” Finally he turns to point to the largest building in the courtyard. 

“And that is the Music building. All the practice rooms are in the basement, then on the main floor is the class rooms for theory and the smaller lectures. The second floor is more class rooms and some offices and the top floor has two fully equipped recording studios that you can rent out for free if you’re a music student.” Minhyuk turns back to a slightly overwhelmed Kihyun whose still trying too take everything in. He’s glad that the Dean had asked someone to show him around because he certainly would have gotten lost otherwise. Even if he would never admit it. 

“So that’s pretty much everything!” Minhyuk says with a megawatt grin. Kihyun thanks him for the tour, kind of expecting him to just sort of wander off to do his own thing but he doesn’t. 

“Hey, are you dong anything right now?” He asks Kihyun, who shakes his head no. “You should totally come with me then. My friends should be finished their band rehearsal by now and we’re gonna head to that dumb little movie theatre to catch a movie as a kind of last hurrah before school starts up again. It’s gonna be fun!” He chirps and then he’s grabbing Kihyun by the wrist and dragging him toward the the outskirts of the courtyard, not giving Kihyun much of a choice. He definitely could have said no and pulled away if he really wanted to, but he doesn’t know anyone here yet and it’ll at least be good to have some acquaintances before starting school.

The near a tiny garage looking building that Kihyun hadn’t even noticed before with a set of metal stairs that run up the outside. Minhyuk lets go of Kihyun’s arm and bounds up the stairs, beckoning for Kihyun to follow. He gesture for Kihyun to stay quiet.

“They might still be practising and we don’t want to interrupt or they’ll get annoyed.” He explains.

When they reach the top of the stairs, it’s not the sound of any kind of practising Kihyun has ever heard. It sounds a lot more like arguing. Minhyuk’s brows furrow in concern before he’s hauling the heavy metal door open and stepping inside.

They’re standing on a loft with a set of metal stars leading to the main floor looking out over the confrontation unfolding below. 

There’s a broad shouldered man with short, dark brown hair standing in the middle of the room with his head hanging down. There’s another man with brown hair sitting on the bench of the piano in the corner of the room looking defeated. He’s much more slender than the first man and his hair is a little bit longer. Next there is a tall, slender man lounging against the piano. He would look like some kind of model if it weren’t for the sour look on his face. Beside him, there’s a young looking man with soft looking cheeks and back hair that falls across his forehead and almost into his eyes. He’s pacing back and forth in front of the larger uncovered window. Lastly, theres a man sitting on the grungy looking couch that’s pressed against on of the walls. He’s blond and he’s got his face in his hands. The over all air of the room is one of defeat.

“Fuck, I can’t believe this is happening. I should have checked in with him over break. Then at least we could have been a little better prepared. I’m so sorry.” The blond says from where he’s seated on the couch. His voice breaks and it sounds like he’s about to start crying. Kihyun begins to feel very uncomfortable.

“Nobody’s blaming you.” The man with short brown hair placates. 

“This is just a shitty situation that no one could have predicted.” The man at the piano bench chimes in.

“What the hell happened here? I was gone for like, an hour, and I come back to you guys in shambles?” Minhyuk says from the top of the stairs. He makes his way down straight to the man in the middle of the room with the short brown hair who instantly wraps an arm around his waist and presses a kiss to his cheek. 

“Hoseok just got a call from Seokwon. His mom is sick so he’s heading home to help out until she gets better. He’s not enrolling in school for this semester and he’s not sure when he’ll be back” 

“We should just hold off performing until he gets back.” The blond man laments from the couch.

“Don’t be stupid.” The tall one by the piano says with a little bit of a sneer. “You can’t put everything on hold just because of one little set back.”

“Well, what the hell are we gonna do with out a lead singer! Hyunwoo’s got enough on his plate and I sure as hell can’t carry this band vocally!” He squawks and Kihyun can see that his eyes are filling with tears even from up on the loft. Honestly, he thinks the blond man is being a bit dramatic. He doesn’t entirely get whats going on yet but it seems simple. All they need is a new lead singer.

At once, all six heads on the ground floor snap to look at Kihyun. He must have said the last part out loud.

“He’s right. All we need to do is find a new lead singer. Which is understandably easier said than done.” The one with black hair and fluffy cheeks says. “Who are you, by the way?”

“Oh, everyone,” Minhyuk says, gesturing for Kihyun to come down to the main floor. Kihyun obeys. “This is my new friend Kihyun. The Dean asked me to show him around campus and he’s pretty cool. I invited him to the movie tonight as well.”

The tension in the air dissipates as there attention is drawn away from their current problem to the stranger walking down the stairs towards them. The man standing with his arm wrapped around Minhyuk is the first to move to welcome their unexpected guest. He sticks out his hand for Kihyun to shake.

“I’m Hyunwoo. I’m a fourth year dance major and I’m Minhyuk’s boyfriend.” He says the last part with a smile that scrunches up his eyes. Kihyun thinks he looks remarkably like a teddy bear. Hyunwoo turns to the boy sitting on the piano bench and gestures for him to introduce himself.

“I’m Changkyun. I’m a first year and I'm a bio chem major.” Kihyun nods and the boy with the soft cheeks steps up and hold out his hand for Kihyun to shake. 

“Jooheon and I major in music production and I’m in my second year!” He says with an enthusiastic smile.

“I’m Hyungwon and I’m a business major in my third year.” The tall model looking one says once Jooheon has stepped away from Kihyun. Kihyun nods and smiles. 

Everyone turns to look at the blond whose seated on the couch scrolling through his phone with his brows deeply furrowed. 

“Hoseok…” Minhyuk calls softly.

“Hoseok!” Hyngwon barks. The man in question looks up from his phone with wide eyes. He looks confused as to why on earth every one is looking at him. 

“You should introduce yourself to Minhyuk’s friend.” Hyungwon adds. His voice is low and there is a dangerous glint in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry.” He says with a sheepish smile before standing and holding out his hand. The frown on Hyungwon’s face melts into something much more sympathetic.

“I’m Hoseok. I’m a music production major, a year above Jooheon.” He offers Kihyun a smile and even though it looks remarkably fake and it doesn’t even come close to reaching his eyes Kihyun would be lying if he said that his heart didn’t skip a beat. He had noticed Hoseok the moment he had stepped into the room. He was undeniably attractive, with thick arms and a broad chest, he looks like he kept himself in good shape. Not to mention the slant of his eyes or the plump, fullness of his lips. Kihyun finds himself wondering if Hoseok wheres any lip products because there is literally no way his lips are naturally that pink. 

His skin is quite soft, too, Kihyun notes as he shakes Hoseok’s hand. The tips of his fingers are calloused and rough but his palms are smooth and supple even though his hands are rather boney. 

“And you know me already! Minhyuk, Visual arts major. Third year. Okay, so now that we’re all aquatinted, lets head to the theatre and get out tickets?” Minhyuk chirps. Everyone makes some kind of consenting noise and begins to gather their stuff. Well, everyone except Hoseok who has just gone back to looking through his phone, pausing momentarily to type something out and then scrolling again. 

The rest of the group begins to traipse up the metal stairs, making small talk with Kihyun as they go. Hyungwon pauses at the bottom of the stairs for a moment when he sees that Hoseok isn’t following.

“Hoseok?” He calls. Hoseok hums in response, distracted.

“Come on, you don’t want to make us miss the movie do you?” Hyungwaon asks.

“You guys should go on ahead of me. I think I’m just gonna stay here and work tonight.” 

Hyungwon sighs and walks from the bottom of the stairs toward Hoseok until he’s standing right in front of him. He snags the phone from Hoseok’s hand snd slips it into his own pocket. When Hoseok protests and tries to reach for it he catches the blonds wrist and stills his hands. Hoseok biceps alone are about the size of Hyungwon’s face so he could probably twist our of his grip fairly easily. He doesn’t though. He just lets Hyungwon holds his wrists and looks up at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“One last night before school starts again. You’re coming out with us and you’re gonna have fun. Okay?” 

“But—“ Hoseok begins to protest. 

“No buts! Minhyuk calls from the top of the stairs. “One last night of fun!” He says as he punches a fist up into the air. His enthusiasm has Hoseok cracking a smile and he hangs his head. Sensing their success Hyunwon drags Hoseok with him to the bottom of the stairs.

“Fine, fine. But after the movie I’m coming straight back here to find us a new vocalist.” Hoseok says as he climbs the stairs behind Hyungwon. 

Once they’re back outside and on the ground making their way toward the theatre Changkyun pauses before turning to Kihyun with a quizzical look on his face. 

“Wait, you never told us what you’re majoring in, Kihyun.” He asks with a curious tilt of his head, just like a little puppy.

“Oh, I’m a vocal major and I’m minoring in photography.” He says. He doesn’t notice that everyone has stopped walking until he nearly runs face first into Hyunwoo’s chest. 

“What?” He asks with wide eyes, very confused as to why everyone is staring at him. 

“You’re a vocal major? As in you’re literally here at school to sing and to have a job singing in the future?” Jooheon asks.

“Uh, well, yeah I guess so.”

“So you’re saying that you literally came to this school so that you could spend you’re time singing?” Minhyuk chimes in.

“Yeah.” Kihyun says looking from face to face. Every single on of his new friends is looking at him like he’s just announced that he had won the lottery and he’s giving each one of them a share.

“Tell me, Kihyun.” Minhyuk says as he slings an arm around Kihyun’s shoulder. “Have you ever wanted to be in a band?”


	2. Chapter 2

It doesn’t take much convincing for Kihyun to agree to join the band. After their movie Hyungwon suggests that they should have Kihyun audition for them and everyone agrees. It’s not cause they’re worried about whether he can sing or not, Minhyuk had assured him. It’s more about whether his voice will fit the bands sound. 

They bring him back to their little garage and he sings for them, accompanying himself on the piano. When he’s done they all applaud him. He even gets some whistles and whoops from Jooheon and Minhyuk. The rest of the band had looked at one another and after coming to some silent telepathic decision Hoseok had gestured to Hyunwoo to make the final call. 

“Welcome to the band.” He had said simply and Jooheon and Minhyuk had come up and slapped him on the back in congratulations. Changkyun and Hyungwon smile at him from their places on the couch. Hoseok appears to have tuned out right after Kihyun had stopped singing, brows furrowed once again as if he was thinking deeply about something. 

“Well, we should all probably head home.” Minhyuk had said. “It’s a busy day for everyone tomorrow.” 

With that everyone began to gather their things. Everyone except Hoseok which, Kihyun noticed, was kind of becoming a theme. Instead, he walked toward a closet in the corner of the room and pulled out an acoustic guitar case. Then he goes over to the piano bench where Kihyun had just been sitting, lifts up the seat and pulls out a massive folder, filled to the brim with papers covered in what looked like musical notation and chord progressions. 

Hyungwon walks to his side and stands there until Hoseok looks up at him. 

“Are you staying here?” Hyungwon asks.

“Just for a little, I promise. I want to start rearranging everything now while Kihyun’s voice is still fresh in my head.” 

Hyungwon shakes his head with a sigh and hands over a keychain with just one key on it. 

“Don’t stay too long, okay? I don’t want to come in tomorrow just to find out that you spent all night here again.” 

“I promise. I’ll go home right at midnight.” Hoseok answers with a smile.

Hyungwon looks at his watch and sighs again but says nothing. He just turns to make his way up the stairs and out the door. The rest of the band follows him bidding Hoseok good bye and good luck. Kihyun stops at the bottom of the stairs and turns to bow to Hoseok.

“Thank you for doing this. And I’m sorry I’ve caused you so much extra work.”

“Don’t be sorry. You really saved our asses here. I really wouldn’t have known what to do if we hadn’t found a new vocalist this quickly. I should be the one thanking you.” Kihyun just shakes his head at the idea.

“Hey, I don’t suppose you’d be able to meet with me later so we can go over some of the songs that we play at most of our shows? I know you’re starting classes so I don’t want to over whelm you but what about next weekend? If you’re free of course.”

“I’m free. And that sounds like a good plan. When do you guys perform next?” 

“We were supposed to be playing at this pub next week but I think that we’re gonna have to cancel. We, as a band will need sometime to adjust to a new voice and I don’t want to rush you with learning the songs. So I guess at the end of the month. That’s when we’ll play our first show.”

Kihyun nods in understanding.

The two of them exchange phone numbers and Kihyun gathers his things and heads out side, leaving Hoseok to stay and work the night away. He’s surprised to find he rest of the group waiting for him outside. 

“Do you live on campus” Minhyuk asks when he gets to the bottom of the stairs. 

“Nope. I live in an apartment like five minutes from here.” Kihyun answers. 

“Which way?”

Kihyun points toward the general direction of his one bedroom apartment.

“Great! Hyunwoo and I live that way too so we can walk with you.” Minhyuk says with a smile and Kihyun smiles back.

 

 

The three of them begin their wall together, Minhyuk and Hyunwoo holding hands and Kihyun walking beside them. 

“So how exactly does the band work? Like what’s you’re sound and who plays what?” Kihyun finally asks to break the silence that had settled over them. 

“Oh, right! I guess that is kind of important.” Minhyuk says sheepishly.

“I play bass.” Hyunwoo chimes in. “Jooheon is our drummer and Changkyun plays keyboard or piano depending on the song and the venue. He is also in charge of any extra percussion stuff that Jooheon doesn’t have enough hands to do. Hoseok is our guitarist. He plays acoustic and electric depending on the venue, like Changkyun, and what kind of equipment is available. He also writes all our songs. I mean the rest of us help too but he’s really the driving force behind it all.”

“What about you?” Kihyun asks nodding toward Minhyuk. 

“Oh I’m not actually in the band. Neither is Hyungwon. I guess you could call me the publicist and Hyungwon is the manager? I make all the posters and what not and I’m working on designing a logo for them. Hyungwon is responsible for finding places for them to perform.”

“Huh. You guys have really got your shit together. How long have you been playing?”

“As a group? A little over a year? It’ll be two years this June.” Hyunwoo says with a proud smile.

“That’s impressive. How did you guys find each other anyway? It’s not like you’re all music majors or anything.”

“Well, the two of us went to high school with Hoseok and then Hoseok and Hyungwon were neighbours when they were younger. Hyungwon went to a private school though, with Seokwon, not the same school as us. Then Hoseok met Jooheon cause they’re in the same program and Jooheon had gone to high school with Changkyun who was just added to the band when he got into college in the fall.” Minhyuk recounts, ticking the band members off on his fingers as he goes through how they know each other.

“So you’re really the only one none of us knew as a kid.” He finishes with a chirp. Hyunwoo nudges him gently with his elbow, clearly concerned that Kihyun might begin to feel like an outsider at a remark like that.

“That’s really amazing. It’s not too often that a group of musical people just naturally brings itself together like this. You guys are very lucky.”

“I think that it has more to do with compromise than luck.” Hyunwoo says. “We’ve all given up a lot in order to make this work. It was actually Minhyuk who suggested that we make a band. He knew that it was something that each of us had talked about wanting to do individually but we had never though of it actually becoming a reality.”

“It almost didn’t. Honestly, I think everything would have fallen apart if Hoseok hadn’t quit his job.” Kihyun raised his eyebrows at Minhyuk. 

“About six months into trying to do this band thing, meeting twice a week after classes to rehearse, we started to fade out. People would miss practises saying that they had school work or a job or other, more important things to do and the band started to falter. We had played a couple of small shows and had stared getting out name out there but it wasn’t enough. We needed to be making our own music in addition to the covers if we really wanted recognition. One day, we were all gathered together, sitting on that raggedy couch in our practise room talking about whether all this effort was worth it when Hoseok busts through the doors looking like a mad man who hadn’t slept in a week. He’s got these paper in his hand and his guitar on his back and he tells us that he’s spent all week working on this song and that we should give it one last shot and play it at our next show. If people hate it, we walk away with no skin off our back but if people like it then we stay together as a band.” Hyunwoo elaborates.

“I still remember the look on Hyungwon’s face when Hoseok told us that he had quit his job.” Minhyuk laughs. Hyunwoo chuckles as well.

“It was so nonchalant. Hyungwon was looking at the new music and he said, “How on earth did you find time to write this?” And Hoseok just says “Oh, I quit my job.” He just said it like he was reading from a newspaper.” Minhyuk says with a shake of his head. They’re almost at Khihyun’s apartment now. 

“God, Hyungwon went so red. I really thought he was gonna explode right there. He was so angry. I’m just glad I didn’t have to be there for the ensuing “think about your future!” rant.” 

“So then what happened?” Kihyun asks wanting to know the end of the story before the reach his home. “Hoseok quits his job and puts everything into this band and then?”

“Well, so did everyone else.” Hyunwoo says. “Nobody skipped rehearsal anymore unless it was unavoidable. We started meeting every day instead of just twice a week, even weekends. Hoseok started recording our songs and uploading them to Soundcloud. He sent them in to the campus radio station and soon enough every one in the school knew about us. We started playing more shows and that’s when Hyungwon kind of officially became our manager.”

“I guess with Hoseok quitting his job, it really changed our mentality. Like, if he was willing to risk all of that for this group then we had to at least match the effort he was putting in. Especially because, out of all of us, he was the one who really needed the job.” Minhyuk adds with a note of finality, like that’s all he’s willing to say on the matter. Kihyun doesn’t have time to ask any more questions anyways because they have reached his house. He bids his two new friend goodbye and heads inside to prepare for his first day of classes.

 

 

The first week of classes goes very smoothly for Kihyun. His professors all seem nice enough and the classes seem interesting. He even ends up sharing a class with Hoseok. During the first music theory class the give the students an exam to test there knowledge and Kihyun does so well on it the advisers decide to give him the credits for the first and second year theory courses and move him straight into the third year course.

He spends his lunch break with the band in their practise room and he gets to know them all a little better. He learns that the group as a whole is loud and playful and they don’t take themselves too seriously. Hyunwoo is the calmest of the group closely followed by Hyungwon but that certainly didn’t mean that those to wouldn’t get weird if provoked in the right way. Jooheon and Changkyun are often the ones that incite the weirdness but sometimes Hoseok is the one to start the teasing. There was one lunch break where he just sat on the couch, flicking Changkyun in the neck overtime he started talking before springing away like a rabbit when the pianist would get annoyed.

Kihyun finds himself fitting in quite well with them as a group and within the week he’s comfortable enough around them to tease along with the others.

 

On Saturday morning Kihyun gets a text from Hoseok asking if he’s able to meet in one of the rental studios on the top floor of the Music building. Kihyun agrees and gathers his things in preparation to head over. 

The walk to the building is short and uneventful and before he knows it he’s knocking quietly on the door of the studio, not wanting to startle Hoseok. He gets no response so he gently pushes the door open and steps inside. 

Hoseok is there but he’s got these huge noise cancelling headphones plugged into his laptop which is running some sort of music program. Kihyun clears his throat in the hopes that it’ll get Hoseok’s attention. He tries again, a little louder this time. When it still doesn’t work he steps toward the blonde with his hand out stretched to tap him on the shoulder. 

Just as he’s close enough to reach out and touch him, Hoseok spins his chair around. He’s so startled that he leaps out of his chair and half way across the room, sending his head phones tumbling to the floor, eyes blown wide and hand clutching his chest. 

“Jesus Christ, Kihyun. That was terrifying!” He scolds trying to calm his frantically beating heart. 

“Sorry.” Kihyun says, although he isn’t really sorry at all. He could admit to himself that Hoseok’s rabbit like tendencies were oddly adorable. He’d never say it out loud though.

Hoseok can sense the insincerity in Kihyun’s voice and he pouts before stalking his way back to the computer and scooping up the fallen headphones. Kihyun snickers a little.

“Anyways…” Hoseok says with a glare. “I thought we could start by listening to some of our music and then I’ll get you to sing through some of the pieces and we can adjust from there?”

Kihyun is just about to agree with Hoseok when another student barges into the recording room. 

“Hey, dudes. Sorry, but I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.” He says with this faux nonchalance that immediately rubs Kihyun the wrong way.

“What do you mean?” Hoseok asks, confusion clear on his face.

“Well, I need to use the studio so you have to leave. I heard you talking and you’re not even working on school stuff.”

“But I rented it out for two hours. Which mean I have the right to do whatever I want here until those two hours are up.”

The student gets this patronizing smile on his face and Kihyun really wants to punch this kid.

“That’s great for you. But I need to use the studio for actual school related stuff. You can just wait outside for me to be done and then come back and work on shit for your stupid little band.”

Kihyun hears Hoseok’s sharp inhale and he watches as his lips press together in a firm line before his tongue darts out to wet them nervously.

“You’re not being very fair, Hyungsoo.” Kihyun can see that Hoseok’s resolve is faultering.

“Life’s not fair. Suck it up.” The student, Hyungsoo, apparently, barks back.

Finally Kihyun can’t stand to watch anymore.

“Hey, dickwad. We were here first. We signed out the room. We have the right to work on whatever we want in here. If you don’t like it, take it up with the dean.” Hyungsoo looks at Kihyun and squints his eyes. 

“And who are you, exactly?” Kihyun lift his chin and puffs his chest out, matching Hyungsoo glare.

“Why should I tell you?” There’s a tense silence in the room and Hyungsoo tries to come up with a response. Kihyun watches as he concedes and breaks eye contact, turning his glare toward Hoseok, a more familiar target instead.

“You better be out of here in exactly two hours or I will get the dean.” He hisses before turning on his heel and sweeping out of the room. 

“We’ll be waiting.” Kihyun singsongs as Hyungsoo makes his way down the stairs and out of sight. 

Hoseok lets out a sigh of relief as the door to the studio swings shut. “Asshole.” He mutters under his breath.

“Damn right. Who does he think he is waltzing in here and pushing people around when he’s got no right. I can’t believe that he would think that it’s okay to talk to someone like that.” Kihyun huffs.

“It’s alright. I’m pretty used to it by now.” Hoseok says before turning back to his computer and opening the bands Soundcloud portfolio.

“You mean this has happened before?” Kihyun asks incredulously. When Hoseok nods Kihyun asks, “Why didn’t you ever do anything about it?” 

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t listen to reason and I never had anything to say that would convince him. After a while it felt pretty useless to even try and make him leave so usually I’d just let him have the studio.” Hoseok says with a shrug.

Kihyun looks at Hoseok like he’s just told him that there is scientific proof that the moon is made of cheese. He cannot believe that Hoseok would let someone walk all over him like that. Personally he’d never be able to stand for injustice like that. 

Hoseok beckons Kihyun over to sit in the chair next to him in front of the computer. He seems intent to get to work so Kihyun just shake off his disbelief at Hoseok’s rather timid response to confrontation and sits down beside him. 

The time goes by incredibly quickly once they get into the swing of things. Hoseok is very focused on the music and he leads Kihyun carefully through each of the bands songs, adjusting things here and there to make things a little easier for Kihyun to sing. The music itself is quite good in Kihyun’s opinion. It has this interesting indie rock vibe that isn’t something Kihyun would generally find himself enjoying, being more partial to ballads. Still, the upbeat songs are fun, with interesting and complex chord progressions and the more ballad like songs are smooth and sweet with lyrics that are chalked full of all these intense emotions.

In the two hours they have, they end up getting through about half of the bands repertoire. It probably would have been more but Kihyun kept getting distracted by this scent that lingers in the air. It smells like cinnamon mostly with a hint this dark, rich coffee and something that Kihyun can’t quite place. It’s one of the nicest things Kihyun has ever smelled and he can feel himself getting addicted too the scent. It takes him the better part of an hour to figure out that what he’s smelling isn’t coming form outside the room but it’s actually radiating from Hoseok himself. Once he does figure it out, he flushes such a bright red that Hoseok asks him if he’s coming down with a fever and whether he wants to go home. He shakes his head and tells Hoseok that he’s just feeling a little warm to which Hoseok responds with a concerned look.

Before they know it the timer on Hoseok’s phone goes off, signalling that there two hours are up. A part of Kihyun wants to stay in the studio for just a little while longer, just to see if he can piss that Hyungsoo guy off a little more, but Hoseok is already packing all his things away and holding the door open for Kihyun. 

They make their way out of the building out into the Art’s courtyard. Kihyun is a little disappointed that they don’t see Hyungsoo again at all but he supposes that he made his point earlier.

“Have you eaten?” Hoseok asks suddenly turning to Kihyun with hopefull eyes.

“Uh, not since breakfast.” Kihyun answers. Hoseok looks down at his watch and lets out a tiny gasp.

“It’s almost two o’clock. You must be starving!” 

Kihyun shrugs but the grumbling of his stomach gives him away.

“You should have said something. We could have stopped earlier if you were hungry.” Hoseok says with just a hint of a pout.

“Well, what about you? When did you last eat.” Kihyun shoots back. It’s not like Hoseok had been stuffing his face in the studio, leaving Kihyun to starve. Hoseok glares a little at Kihyun but his stomach growls too.

“Touche.”

“We should go eat then. Do you know anywhere near?” Kihyun asks.

Hoseok hums in consideration before responding, “Theres a cafe that’s like five minutes from here. They have the most amazing cupcakes ever.”

“Sounds good enough to me. Let’s go.” Kihyun says gesturing for Hoseok to lead the way.

**Author's Note:**

> hey everybody! follow me on tumblr if you like :) @thegarbagecan.tumblr.com <3


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